Has anyone ever tried packaged Chinese teas that you can find on international markets like eBay? There are several TGY's for good prices and their names all in Chinese. Does anyone know about the general quality of packaged teas like these?

Pfft. Quality TGY starts from $70/100g; that is one that provides a pleasant brewing and tasting experience with a full and long-lasting mouthfeel. It would be like separating the wheat from the chaff. At those prices, forget about it, you'd be buying low quality commercial stuff (supermarket tea).

Better ask about specific names, then you'll obtain a more downright answer.

Yes that's actually the exact one I was talking about. But what about some of the oolongs from Dragon Tea House? they have a large selection of tea and are based in China. They have some cheaper 100g sizes. What do you think the quality of some of these would be like?

There are diffrences between mass produces teas, some can be good, others just a meere immitation of the name they carry, and there are teas made by humble villagers that are the best in the world. Please download and watch the movie "All in this tea" from 2007 where David Lee Hoffman shows interesting facts about the chinese tea bussiness, I watched that movie many times and I learned a lot.

garrettmc wrote:Yes that's actually the exact one I was talking about. But what about some of the oolongs from Dragon Tea House? they have a large selection of tea and are based in China. They have some cheaper 100g sizes. What do you think the quality of some of these would be like?

It's really very difficult to asses without actually tasting them. It's better to request a range of samples to taste, which many wholesalers will be happy to supply (at cost). Better to do this than order several 100g of poor quality tea. I've found it beneficial to request the organic certifications, if a retailer is claiming a tea is organic. Again it's not 100% guarantee, but it would provide more purchase confidence.